The use of international women’s human rights law in addressing gender-based violence in KosovoAriana Qosaj-MustafaThe use of international women’s human rights law in addressing gender-based violence

This article looks at how feminist legal scholars have approached the subject of law and the role of law in advancing the equality of women with men. By analysing the example of Kosovo, the article discusses the adoption and use of formal legal regulations for international instruments on women’s human rights and the institutional response to cases of gender-based violence in Kosovo. I argue that the adoption of formal legal regulations at the global level has had a considerable impact on country-level responses and a direct impact on the ground. The article adopts the approach from Butterfly Politics by Catherine MacKinnon, i.e. that the ‘Opening of the wings of a butterfly in Brazil may cause a tornado in Texas’ (2017: 1). This metaphor embodies the view that small interventions cause global changes, recognising the potential for change resulting from both local and global interventions. The article argues that, while change on the ground might be slow, international human rights for women are a useful tool in furthering the equality agenda and, therefore, should not be easily dismissed.